


Strong is Fighting

by posingasme



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, References to Addiction, Vampires, samcc, show-level violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 14:26:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19443283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posingasme/pseuds/posingasme
Summary: Strong isn’t always about winning the fight. Strong is about fighting. Sam knows a little something about Benny’s personal struggle, and he and Benny have each other’s backs.





	Strong is Fighting

**Author's Note:**

> For the June 2019 “Other TV Show Quotes” Sam Creation Challenge on Tumblr.

_**“Strong is fighting. It’s hard and it’s painful and it’s everyday.”** _ _**(Buffy the Vampire Slayer)** _

Sam wasn’t sure what hit him, but that was kind of the story of his life. Things hit him in the back of the head so often, it was like the one thing he could count on his whole adult existence. His weekly concussion. It should have damaged him permanently by now, probably killed him. He had joked aloud about it once in front of the angel, who had murmured something about vessels of archangels being made of sterner stuff than the average human, and that made sense. It was really amazing the things that Sam had taken over the years that should have killed him. Even the things that did kill him couldn’t make it stick. It took an exasperated badass reaper queen for that, apparently.

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

He shook his head to clear it, and his eyes focused just in time to see the fang flying at him in the dark. He rolled to his feet and stared at the thing, which was coiled and ready to spring again, glowering at him lethally. “Where the hell did that one come from?” he demanded. Why were there always surprise guests at their parties?

“I look like I know? Does it matter? Kill it!”

Sam gasped in air to brace himself for this fight. Dean was as helpful as always in situations like this. And really, what sort of an answer did he expect? Dean was locked in battle with the female, and wasn’t really in the position to chat.

When the vampire leapt again, Sam was ready this time. He swung wide, and hit bone with the machete. It made a horrible crunch that it shouldn’t have made, and he cursed. The guy had zigged when Sam had expected him to zag, and the blade had caught him in the shoulder instead of clear across the neck, and slammed into bone. Sam lifted his knee and kicked the fang in the chest to pull the machete loose, but by now there was blood everywhere, and his grip slipped. The fang, and the machete half through his chest, slammed into to workshed’s interior wall, with a howl, and Sam lost his balance. He fell backward and his head smashed against the floor again.

Just before the wounded vamp with the rictus grin could pounce, Sam saw his head slice cleanly from his neck, the way it was supposed to have done a moment before. He let out his held breath in a puff, and looked up at his savior.

Benny sighed, and reached out a hand to help him up, while his own teeth were sliding back into place.

His eyes lowered, and he accepted the bear’s paw. A glance assured him Dean was all right, wiping the blood from his face with one hand and from his machete with his prey’s jacket. “Thanks,” he muttered.

His blade came into view, and he took it. “Believe this is yours, kiddo.”

“It was right where I left it for safekeeping,” he joked wearily.

“Yeah,” Dean barked. “In the bloodsucker’s shoulder and not his neck. When did your aim get so crappy? It’s because you’re too tall, isn’t it?” He was panting, but his face was both less gray and less bloody than a minute ago, so Sam guessed he was fine.

“It’s because everyone we fight is too short,” he shot back. “Just like you.” He wasn’t certain that he had gained ground with that comment. His head was foggy from all the brain concussing. It made post-fight banter more difficult.

Dean snorted at him, but didn’t reply, which either meant that Sam had won this round or that Sam looked as bad as he felt. “Come on. Benny, your buddies got this?”

Benny was watching Sam, who deliberately looked away. “Yeah. This part of the clan war is over. Sam just found the last cousin we couldn’t track, and those other two are a lot less mouthy without their heads. Thank you, brother. No way I could’ve done this on my own without a bunch of humans getting caught in the crosshairs. Ya’ll saved a bunch of lives tonight.”

Dean shrugged. Now that the adrenaline was dying down, he was exhausted. “You’re sure that’s the last of them? I don’t want to hit the road just to find out we let one go.”

But Benny was smiling. “Like I say, only one I couldn’t get account of just jumped your brother. So we got lucky.”

“Yeah? Sam, you feel lucky?”

Sam was peeling off his jacket, and cringing as the dried blood from the gash in his arm went with it. The shirt beneath was shredded. “Yeah. Jackpot. We should hit Vegas on the way home.”

“We could buy a lottery ticket but we wouldn’t be able to claim the winnings.”

“I would have hacked that by now if there were a way to make that work,” Sam agreed.

Benny smirked at them. “Ya’ll are just a delight to work with, you know that?”

“Bite me,” Sam groaned. It seemed to be getting even darker in this old workshed, especially right at the edges of his vision. “Dean? A little...help?”

Before Dean could even look up, Sam felt his knees buckle beneath him, and the pain in his head shot through his eyes mercilessly. He could even hear himself drop to the ground, but by then, his brain had decided not to register any more feeling. It was all pain and exhaustion. No reason to feel what was so familiar. The song always remained the same…

He was jostled awake as his partners were carrying him to the car. There was one man on either side, an arm slung around their broad shoulders. Sam began to giggle, even as the pain reawakened too.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dean grunted.

“Blood loss, I think,” he laughed.

Benny was silent. Somewhere in Sam’s head, he knew the poor beast was fighting something very primal to not react to the blood of the hunters.

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you think it’s funny. You’re heavy as a horse.”

Sam’s laughter turned sour. “Crowley called me a moose.”

“Crowley is a dick.”

“Dean, stop. Stop. Gotta…”

Dean lowered him to the ground just in time, and shoved Benny gently to save him too. Then he held Sam’s shoulders while he vomited.

Sam could hear his brother gag at the sound. He coughed, and choked in his air. “Okay,” he wheezed. “Okay. I’m good.”

“Hey. Hold him steady. I’m going to get the car and pull it around.”

Benny was nodding when Sam looked up. He took hold of Sam’s shoulders like Dean had done, and Sam let himself sit heavily on the ground.

A blinking glance told him they had barely gotten out of view of the old workshed. He sighed. “Thanks for the assist,” he said quietly. “Back there.”

The vamp was shrugging. It was how he realized he was leaning on Benny’s chest. “Your brother would be mighty pissed if I let some backwoods hillbilly vampire take you down. They might be the Hatfields and the McCoys of the vampire world, but you’re still Butch to his Sundance.”

Sam smirked at the reference. “He made you watch the movie, didn’t he?”

“He made me watch the movie,” he confirmed. “He’s a pain in my ass, but I don’t mind saving yours.”

“Thank you,” he said again. “And I know it isn’t easy, what with the smell and…”

“Don’t talk about it. Anyway, I had my donation earlier. I’m fine.” He rubbed his hands over Sam’s arms, carefully avoiding the injury. Sam hadn’t noticed how cold he was until he began to warm under Benny’s touch. “You and Dean...You always trust me, and I ain’t never going to burn through that trust.”

Sam cringed. “I didn’t always trust you,” he murmured quietly. “You know that.”

“I know. But we’ve come a long way since then, right? Never go a day without thinking I gotta be what Sam trusts me to be. Can’t slip even for a second. Sam’s trusting me to not give in. I ain’t weak, Sam. I’ll prove it the rest of my days. I made a promise.”

He gave up all pretense that he was holding any of his own weight, and curled into the large chest and arms. “You’re not weak. You fight, every day, against something that you cannot even see. I know what that’s like, Benny. You know I do.”

The demon blood. It had been like that, for a short time. The days of Famine had torn him apart from the inside, fighting against himself, and in the end, he had relented and fed the addiction. But he also remembered the time those hunters had tracked him down at that bar, and forced blood into his mouth. He remembered what it had done to him, and what it had taken for him to spit it back out. Every day was that day for Benny, and a hunt with humans against other vampires was like that confrontation with Famine. Blood everywhere, torn from his friends by the very monster Benny fought not to become…

“I know,” he whispered again. “You’re not weak. Strength isn’t about winning. Hell, I nearly got my ass tossed into the Void today because my aim was a little off. I’m low on blood and I’ve got yet another concussion, and I still might get a tour of the Void yet, if Dean doesn’t hurry up.” He didn’t think so. He was already beginning to feel better, and once he had hydrated and rested on the way, he had some remedies in some of the books back at the bunker which would assist in healing his poor, bruised brain. Maybe they would even call up Castiel to see if he could swing by at some point for his quick fingers-to-the-forehead special. Just the thought cheered Sam a little.

“He’s coming. I can hear him cussing under his breath about the mud on his car.”

Sam smiled fondly at the report. “But, Benny, you hear what I’m saying. I messed up today, and I’ll mess up again another day. I make mistakes. But nobody can say I’m weak.”

“Strongest men I know, you and him.”

“Strong is fighting. It’s hard, and it’s painful, and it’s every day. Every damn day. And I love you for fighting your fight, Benny. I trust you. If you feel yourself starting to slip, I know you’ll let us help you. That was the deal, right? You’re never alone in this. Me and Dean...we’re in this fight with you. You feel like it’s too much one day, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you stay strong. Just like you step in for me when I screw up in a fight, I’ll be strong when you need me in yours.”

It was beginning to hurt too badly to keep his eyes open, but Benny’s own eyes were filling with tears, so Sam made the effort. “I love you, Sam.” It was said with a nearly vicious tone. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d stay strong, and you’d fight, and you’d know I was proud of you.” He let his eyes slip closed finally. “And you’d know I love you.”

“I promise.” Then the man huffed and sniffed. “But today ain’t the day we find out about that. Here’s your ride. You’re gonna be fine, Sam.”

“I know,” he murmured. “You’ve got me.”

For an instant before the Impala wrapped its shelter around him protectively, Benny’s arms held him a little tighter. “I got you,” he agreed.


End file.
